In this episode of the Podcast, Darien & Hayden discuss how training unilateral movements will help improve your strength when it comes to your bilateral movements. They also discuss what you should look for when choosing a coach and how you should perhaps consider judging a book by its cover. The episode begins with another mention of Darien's new husky puppy, Luna, and how to adequately exercise puppies at such a young age (11:00). They transition into discussing the importance of high-level athlete training and how much specificity goes into their programming (16:10). Some people are genetically gifted with strength but that doesn't necessarily mean that they are using their strength to their full potential (23:30). Unilateral exercises with the intent of creating symmetry with proper movement patterns will have a strong carryover to bilateral exercises (28:00). The conversation changes into discussing the means in which people will generally select a Personal Trainer at a commercial gym (38:07). Hayden brings up how he would look for a PT that is credible and has achieved goals in which he would like to achieve (43:35). The differences between a "Chad" and a "Pencil Pusher" as PT's (48:55). First impressions are important, but are they the only thing that matter (54:25)? For online coaching, www.darienmattfitness.ca and you can find us both on Instagram @darienmatt and @hayden.eade.

In this episode, Darien & Hayden discuss the importance behind prioritizing fitness in your life and fitting it into your daily routine. The episode begins with Darien talking about his new puppy, Luna, and how his priorities had to shift in order to take care of her (5:25). Hayden talks about his shoe obsession and how he determines what shoes to wear depending on the occasion (8:15). Darien talks about his experience taking care of his new puppy, how he had to adapt to his new dad responsibilities as well as how that has affected his training (19:35). They go into detail about knee valgus and why that occurs with some lifters when performing a squat and why it depends on the individual as to if that is a good or bad thing (28:00). They discuss how people will generally prioritize physiotherapy and chiro rather than baseline resistance training (37:20). Hayden ends the episode by explaining how he would approach a busy individual to help them understand the importance of resistance training and why they should make it a priority in their daily routine (50:25). For online coaching, www.darienmattfitness.ca and you can find us both on Instagram @darienmatt and @hayden.eade.

In today's episode, Darien & Hayden are joined by Lia Foster, an owner of a Personal Training gym called Blood Sweat Train in Newmarket, Ontario. Lia is a Certified Personal Trainer with a Bachelor of Science in Dietetics (Nutritional Science) as well as a minor in Exercise Science. We discuss how to properly achieve sustainable weight-loss or weight-gain and how one should utilize individualized variables to assess themselves on their journey to managing their own proper dietary habits. There are a million of different routes to get to Rome and Lia begins the episode by discussing her recommendations as to how an individual should pave that road map (3:30). How do you begin to reverse diet and increase calories when you are still trying to lose weight and already eating an exceptionally low amount of calories (19:10)? Do you believe it's important to recognize that food has a purpose and that the majority of your meals should be planned with intent (29:05)? With Apple Watches and Fitbits becoming more prominent in the general population and being able to track your caloric output to an easier degree, do you think that tracking calories in vs calories out each day has merit as opposed to simply eating the same amount of calories each day (36:55)? Where would you start with someone that uses food as a coping mechanism for their mental health and tends to binge eat which leads them to a caloric surplus (54:50)? How do you coach someone to get over the mindset that their end-goal is so far away that it doesn't even seem worth it to them to try and achieve it (67:00)? How does someone become informed about what they should do when there is so much different information out there on social media (77:00)? What is your 15 second elevator pitch if someone were to come to you and ask for general advice on where to start when looking at optimizing their diet (83:20)? You can visit Blood Sweat Train at www.bloodsweattrain.ca and on Instagram @bloodsweattrain. You can also find Lia @liafoster_, myself @darienmatt, and Hayden @hayden.eade.

Do you find yourself warming up for 30+ minutes every day before your workout just because you've heard that's best for you? Darien & Hayden share their strategies and why you should think what's best for you; work smarter, not harder. The episode begins with by discussing Hayden's leg training, both his warm-up and his workout, and what he's recently been doing differently (2:20). Darien gives his opinion on why he believes that Hayden may actually be doing too many warm-up exercises (19:40). They go on by discussing nutrition and how it ties into their workout programming, and why celebrating small wins is important (31:10). They talk about meal timing and meal consistency, how they different in terms of both, and why each way works best for them individually (34:45). People tend to overthink a lot of stuff, their nutrition being one of them. Darien & Hayden end the episode by discussing some stories about a few of their friends, what it takes to stay consistent with nutrition and exercise, and how doing something is better than doing nothing (46:20). For online coaching, www.darienmattfitness.ca and you can find us both on Instagram @darienmatt and @hayden.eade.

In today's episode, Darien & Hayden talk a lot about mental health and how you can utilize physical activity to help better your own mental health. They begin the episode by talking a bit about what's happening with COVID testing in Saskatchewan (2:00). They talk about how cold it is in Canada right now and how much more difficult it makes it to go for walks outside because of that (7:00). Cutting & bulking cycles usually align with the seasons and the two talk about how they plan to soon begin their "summer shredding" cut (9:00). They touch on the widely-accepted 10,000 daily step goal and how you can get steps in throughout your day (16:00). The importance of having a change of scenery in your day-to-day life, and how different scenery can unconsciously affect your conscientiousness (19:00). They talk about rest times during their workouts, how long they rest for and why, and why it ultimately depends on how close you are to your 1RM or the type of movement you're doing (25:00). The snowball effect is an amazing concept and they explain their reasoning as to why you should try to keep your train on its rails (37:00). Hayden talks about his own experiences around exercise and resistance training in the morning to help put him in the right mindset for the rest of his day (42:20). For online coaching, www.darienmattfitness.ca and you can find us both on Instagram @darienmatt and @hayden.eade.

In today's episode, Darien & Hayden discuss the acronym K.I.S.S. and why it's important for you to not make things more difficult than they need to be. Before they dive into that, the episode begins with the two of them talking about their own thoughts about kissing on the first date (2:15). Hayden then talks about why he decided to switch the script from "Keep It Simple Stupid" to "Keep It Stupid Simple" (13:00). Darien then gets into the topic of research studies (such as diet soda and artificial sweeteners pertaining to weight-loss) and why the average person should not rely on a single study as sufficient information to base their life around (18:00). Hayden reflects on his Instagram post and talks more about why starting is the hardest part and sometimes you just have to do the damn thing (32:20). Building a skill takes time and focusing on one aspect at a time is going to be the easiest way to get there, Darien reflects on counting calories and learning how to squat (37:40). People focus too much on the end result rather than enjoying the process of obtaining that result and Hayden once again brings up his journey to building his legs (49:10). They circle-back to bring up the phrase "studies show" and reference Layne Norton, a man big into the fitness industry that is also trying to end the stigma around confusing weight-loss (63:40). They end the episode by discussing consultations and why it's beneficial to have a coach or a trainer help guide you along the way to help simplify the process for you (70:00). For online coaching, www.darienmattfitness.ca and you can find us both on Instagram @darienmatt and @eade96.

There are a lot of different types of exercises out there that you can do, but how do you know which ones would be the best for you to add to your program? In this episode, Darien and Hayden go through the reasoning and thought processes behind the overall intent of exercise selection. They start the episode by talking about how many kids that they want when they're older (5:25). Darien then talks about how it's important to value your own time and why there's much more too it than just simply trading one hour of your time for a dollar value (10:30). They reference that analogy towards fitness programming and talk about how much thought goes into selecting a movement for a client (13:50). Darien then brings up Mike Israetel @rpdrmike and talks about his concept of the Stimulus-To-Fatigue Ratio, otherwise known as SFR (20:00). Hayden talks about how he's started to add Front Squats to the beginning of his own routine and his intent behind it (23:45). They talk about the mind-muscle connection and why it should be used solely as a tool to help determine SFR, but shouldn't be the end all & be all of exercise selection (36:30). Hayden talks about how he used to work out with a close friend and bodybuilder, Matt, and how there were a lot of differences between the two when performing the exact same workout (42:45). Darien brings up the importance of practicing skill and how crucial it is to develop skills relating to movement in the same way as you would when learning any other skill (50:15). They end the episode by talking about some of their client success stories and why it's important to be personable as a coach (59:20). You can find the both of us on Instagram @darienmatt and @eade96.

This episode begins with Hayden talking about how he recently did another IG poll on his story, however this was his first time that he's ever spoke to the camera (2:40). He talks a bit about what his (as well as the other trainers that he works with) game plan is moving forward over the next few months in terms of his career; how he plans to gain clients, strategies, COVID-related stuff, etc (6:00). They get into a conversation about conversations and how they each uniquely analyze information in different ways which, of course, stems from their experiences growing up (9:10). Darien then brings up a new variation of a kickback that he tried today during his warm-up using resistance bands and why he loves it, given the limitations to equipment at home (20:50). Darien then goes on to explain his learning process with his new website and how he had to learn about Google Search Console. He talks about how his learning and understanding of that was similar to the average person trying to understand fitness and gives some insight as to what he did to learn how to start using it (26:15). Hayden then brings up a question from a listener about Hip Airplanes and they go into detail about how to ideally perform this movement, as well as a few prerequisites for stability and mobility (29:40). They continue the conversation by explaining the importance movement preparation and why you should focus on regressing movement patterns rather than regressing weight when trying to work on a specific issue that was identified by the initial movement pattern (42:20). You can find the both of us on Instagram @darienmatt and @eade96.